Friday, 23 September, 2016 -- One of the fastest-growing sportstech companies in the world, GuardLab, has become the latest technology company to announce it will establish its Asia Pacific headquarters in Victoria.

GuardLab will open the Asia Pacific base in Melbourne later this year and will also re-locate its regional manufacturing provision from Long Island, New York to Melbourne.

The move will create up to 50 full-time high-skilled jobs, acting as a major export hub to Asia which has a market potential of around $50 million per year.

Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade Philip Dalidakis met with GuardLab CEO Aidan Butler at the company’s Long Island office today to officially welcome the fast-growing tech company to the sporting capital of the world.

The company uses the very latest in digital scanning and 3D printing to manufacture neuromuscular mouthguards which their athletes believe are the best fitting, highest performing custom mouthguards on the market.

Quickly developing partnerships with some of the largest sports brands in the world, GuardLab is already the official mouthguard partner of UFC and recently signed a three-year partnership to become the official mouthguard partner of the AFL, AFL Women’s and AFL Academies.

The new Melbourne headquarters will be a base for GuardLab’s operations across the entire Asia region and will oversee business development, marketing, manufacturing and management.

The announcement follows recent moves to Victoria by a growing list of leading global tech startups including GoPro, Zendesk, Square and Slack.

The Andrews Labor Government is investing heavily in startups and the state’s tech sector, through our $60 million LaunchVic initiative, to make Victoria the number one business destination across the Asia Pacific.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade Philip Dalidakis:

“This is another huge vote of confidence in Victoria as a centre of tech and innovation, not just in Australia but across the Asia Pacific.”

“GuardLab is one of the fastest-growing sports companies in the world so it makes sense for them to have their regional HQ in Melbourne – the sporting capital of the world.”

Quotes attributable to GuardLab CEO Aidan Butler:

“The Asia market is an exciting one for GuardLab, and as we drive innovation in a segment which has been largely undisrupted for decades, we are proud to be centering our APAC operations firmly in Victoria.”

“Being an innovative sports tech brand, it is critical for us to be located in a city in which both sport and innovation abound, and Melbourne fits the bill perfectly."